Suggested Searches

1 min read

Fires and Heavy Smoke in Alaska

Instruments:
Topics:
Fires and Heavy Smoke in Alaska
July 31, 2002

These scattered large fires burning in Alaska may be the result of extreme lightning activity experienced from July 17 to the 19, 2002, when the region received 12,000 lightning strikes. The large river flowing from upper right to bottom left is the Yukon River. This image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on July 31, 2002.

References & Resources

Image by Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA-GSFC

You may also be interested in:

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.

Ice Moves Out of Aniak
3 min read

Spring melt along Alaska’s Kuskokwim River caused ice jams and flooding.

Article
Signs of Thaw in the Bering Sea
3 min read

Drifting sea ice fragments near Alaska’s Saint Lawrence and Nunivak islands and colorful water around the Yukon Delta heralded the…

Article
Smoke Streams Across Eastern Washington
3 min read

Wildland fires in early August 2026 pushed air quality to unhealthy levels, destroyed hundreds of structures, and triggered mandatory evacuations…

Article